想要提高托福閱讀能力，我們一定要在日常生活中有意識(shí)地增加英語閱讀量，提升語感和熟練度，這其中比較常用也比較方便地一個(gè)方式就是利用各類英文報(bào)刊雜志文章進(jìn)行精讀與泛讀練習(xí)。下面我們來看一篇經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人文章：石油工業(yè)邁向數(shù)字時(shí)代。

托福雙語閱讀素材：The oil industry struggles to enter the digital age

Oil and technology

Data drilling

The oil industry struggles to enter the digital age

石油與科技

數(shù)字鉆探

石油工業(yè)艱難邁向數(shù)字時(shí)代

IT SOUNDS like a spectacular feat of engineering. Employees of Royal Dutch Shell located in Calgary, Canada, recently drilled a well 6,200 miles (10,000km) away in Vaca Muerta, Argentina. In fact, the engineers of the Anglo-Dutch oil major were using computers to perform what they call “virtual drilling”, based on their knowledge of Fox Creek, a shale bed in Alberta, which has similar geological features to Argentina’s biggest shale deposit. They used real-time data sent from a rig in Vaca Muerta to design the well and control the speed and pressure of the drilling. On their second try, they completed the well for .4m, down from m a few years ago. “It’s the cheapest well we’ve drilled in Argentina,” says Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive.

這聽上去是一個(gè)令人嘆為觀止的工程壯舉(第N次…別老achievement)——身在加拿大卡爾加里(Calgary)的荷蘭皇家殼牌公司員工最近在10,000公里之外的阿根廷瓦卡姆爾塔(Vaca Muerta)油田遠(yuǎn)程鉆探了一口油井。實(shí)際上，這家英荷合資石油巨頭的工程師是使用計(jì)算機(jī)完成了這次“虛擬鉆井”。他們的操作是基于對(duì)加拿大阿爾伯塔省頁巖礦區(qū)?？怂瓜?Fox Creek)的了解，該礦區(qū)與瓦卡姆爾塔這個(gè)阿根廷最大的頁巖沉積區(qū)具有相似的地質(zhì)特征。他們運(yùn)用瓦卡姆爾塔的一個(gè)鉆井平臺(tái)傳送的實(shí)時(shí)數(shù)據(jù)來設(shè)計(jì)油井并控制鉆探的速度和壓力。在第二次嘗試時(shí)，他們以540萬美元的成本完成了鉆井，低于幾年前的1500萬美元?！斑@是我們?cè)诎⒏⒊杀咀畹偷你@井?！睔づ剖紫瘓?zhí)行官本·范伯登(Ben van Beurden)表示。

Shell is not alone in deploying computer wizards alongside geologists in an attempt to lower costs in an era of moderate oil prices. The industry as a whole is waking up to the fact that digitisation and automation have transformed other industries, such as commerce and manufacturing, and that they have been left behind. Technology firms and consultancies are knocking on their doors peddlingalluring concepts like the “digital oil rig” and the “oilfield of the future”. Some argue that the embrace of digital technologies could be the next big thing after the shale revolution that started to transform oil and gas production in America a decade ago. But this is an industry that embraces new technologies only in fits and starts.

在油價(jià)不高的時(shí)代，部署計(jì)算機(jī)能手來配合地質(zhì)學(xué)專家工作以降低成本的不只殼牌一家。整個(gè)石油業(yè)如夢(mèng)初醒，意識(shí)到(寫作句型)數(shù)字化和自動(dòng)化已徹底改變了商業(yè)和制造業(yè)等其他行業(yè)，而自己卻已然落后?？萍脊竞妥稍児菊谇檬蜆I(yè)的大門，推銷“數(shù)字化石油鉆井平臺(tái)”和“未來油田”等誘人的概念。有人認(rèn)為，繼十年前開始改變美國(guó)油氣生產(chǎn)的頁巖革命后，積極運(yùn)用數(shù)字科技可能成為又一件大事。但石油業(yè)在接受新技術(shù)上總是斷斷續(xù)續(xù)。

Once, Big Oil was at the forefront of digitisation, pioneering the use of 3-D seismic data and supercomputers to help find resources. But priorities changed, especially during the past decade when oil prices rose above 0 a barrel and the primary goal was to find more of it, whatever the cost. Whizzy new technology took second place. Ulrich Spiesshofer, chief executive of ABB, a Swedish-Swiss automation-technology company, says the oil industry puts to use in exploration activities barely 5% of the seismic data it has collected. During production of oil, less than 1% of data from an oil rig reaches the people making decisions, reckons McKinsey, a consultancy.

石油巨頭集團(tuán)曾一度處于數(shù)字化前沿，開創(chuàng)使用三維地震數(shù)據(jù)和超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)來輔助資源勘探。但后來首要任務(wù)發(fā)生了改變，尤其是在過去十年。當(dāng)時(shí)油價(jià)升至每桶超過100美元，不惜一切代價(jià)尋找更多石油成為了主要目標(biāo)，高新技術(shù)則退居次席。瑞典瑞士合資自動(dòng)化技術(shù)公司ABB的首席執(zhí)行官烏利齊·史畢福(Ulrich Spiesshofer)表示，石油業(yè)收集的地震數(shù)據(jù)中只有不到5%被用于勘探活動(dòng)中。咨詢公司麥肯錫認(rèn)為，在石油開采過程中，石油鉆井平臺(tái)收集的數(shù)據(jù)只有不足1%為決策層所知悉。

It is the process of extracting oil and gas that is considered most ripe成熟 for digitisation and automation. Drilling often takes place miles below the surface in rock formations where drill bits and pipes can be broken or snagged, which halts activity for long periods. Baker Hughes, an oil-services firm, has recently developed what it calls the first automated drill bit, capable of self-adjusting depending on the nature of the rock. McKinsey says undersea robots are also being deployed to fix problems.

如今，油氣開采的過程被認(rèn)為最適合應(yīng)用數(shù)字化和自動(dòng)化。鉆探通常在巖層表面下方幾英里處進(jìn)行，鉆頭和鉆桿可能會(huì)破損或卡住，這會(huì)導(dǎo)致鉆探作業(yè)長(zhǎng)期停頓。油田服務(wù)公司貝克休斯(Baker Hughes)最近開發(fā)出了號(hào)稱全球首創(chuàng)的自動(dòng)化鉆頭，能根據(jù)巖石的性質(zhì)(別老character)自我調(diào)節(jié)。麥肯錫表示，海底機(jī)器人也正用于解決問題。

Above the surface, efforts are under way to reduce the amount of people and plant on oil rigs, helping improve safety in a dangerous industry. James Aday, a veteran oil driller now at Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, says that on the drilling platform itself, automation is not new. Others say that more rigs are being controlled semi-remotely; in the Gulf of Mexico, engineers in Houston use real-time data from oil rigs to make decisions, reducing the cost of shuttling them by helicopter to rigs. “The aim is to bring the data to the expert, not the expert to the data,” says Peter Zornio of Emerson, an automation firm. “There’s a huge incentive to get the people and the choppers off the platform.”

在地面上，人們正努力減少石油鉆井平臺(tái)上的工作人員和機(jī)械數(shù)量，以助提高這一高危行業(yè)的安全性。資深鉆探人員詹姆斯·阿代(James Aday)現(xiàn)任職咨詢公司伍德麥肯茲(Wood Mackenzie)，他表示，就鉆井平臺(tái)而言，自動(dòng)化并非新鮮事。其他人也表示，更多鉆井平臺(tái)已轉(zhuǎn)為半遠(yuǎn)程操控。在墨西哥灣，身在休斯敦的工程師們使用石油鉆機(jī)的實(shí)時(shí)數(shù)據(jù)做決策，從而減少了用直升機(jī)運(yùn)送他們往返鉆井平臺(tái)的成本。“這么做的目的是把數(shù)據(jù)傳送給專家，而不是把專家送到數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)生地，”自動(dòng)化公司艾默生電氣的彼特·左尼歐(Peter Zornio)說道，“石油企業(yè)有著巨大的動(dòng)力去減少派往鉆井平臺(tái)的人員和直升機(jī)?！?/p>

Wider use of data, sensors and automation will produce new challenges for the industry. It will have to learn about cyber-security—oil rigs are critical infrastructure—and invest in ways to prevent theft of data. But digitisation may also attract millennials to replace an ageing workforce, where mass retirement is a looming threat.

數(shù)據(jù)、傳感器和自動(dòng)化更廣泛的應(yīng)用將為該行業(yè)帶來新挑戰(zhàn)。業(yè)界將不得不去了解網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全(石油鉆井平臺(tái)是至關(guān)重要的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施)并在數(shù)據(jù)防盜技術(shù)上投資。而數(shù)字化也可能吸引到千禧一代的加入，取代老化的勞動(dòng)隊(duì)伍。后者大規(guī)模退休的威脅正逐漸逼近。

As to whether the workforce could shrink across the industry in the digital age, ultimately geologists and engineers believe technology will not put them out of a job, because producing oil is art as well as science. Nor will tech startups be likely to overcome the barriers to entry—such as high capital requirements—that protect incumbents. But they add to a sense, born out of the shale revolution, that innovation will make oil and gas more accessible and that the days when oil was considered a scarce resource are long gone.

至于在數(shù)字化時(shí)代整個(gè)石油業(yè)的勞動(dòng)力隊(duì)伍會(huì)否縮小的問題，地質(zhì)學(xué)家和工程師們還是相信科技并不會(huì)讓他們失業(yè)，因?yàn)槭烷_采既是科學(xué)也是藝術(shù)?？萍紕?chuàng)業(yè)公司也不大可能跨越保護(hù)既有企業(yè)的進(jìn)入門檻，例如高資本要求。但這些改變深化了源于頁巖革命的一種認(rèn)知——?jiǎng)?chuàng)新技術(shù)將使石油和天然氣開采變得更容易，石油被視作稀缺資源的時(shí)代早已過去。

托福閱讀技巧：如何把握托福閱讀脈絡(luò)

掌握托福閱讀思維之一不斷地練習(xí)

TOEFL的閱讀量非常大，一般的中國(guó)考生根本無法把文章全部讀完，所謂的"掃讀法"、"跳讀法"和"略讀法"也只能適用于少數(shù)類型的文章，根本不能解決本質(zhì)問題。那么，文章到底應(yīng)該怎么讀法呢?一句話，主動(dòng)地閱讀文章的關(guān)鍵部位。所謂主動(dòng)是指不能象一般的閱讀那樣完全被動(dòng)地接受信息，而應(yīng)該不斷的進(jìn)行思考和預(yù)測(cè);所謂關(guān)鍵部位，主要是每一段的開頭和結(jié)尾部分。由于TOEFL的閱讀理解文章全部選自于正式出版物，文章的邏輯結(jié)構(gòu)非常完整和嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，而且出現(xiàn)的邏輯模式也是屈指可數(shù)。經(jīng)過系統(tǒng)的訓(xùn)練，考生的預(yù)測(cè)可以做到非常準(zhǔn)確的程度。這樣，通過閱讀文章的幾處關(guān)鍵部位，就能很快地把握整個(gè)文章的結(jié)構(gòu)和內(nèi)在的邏輯關(guān)系，也就解決了問題的70%。

掌握托福閱讀思維之二解題訓(xùn)練

排除法恐怕是一直以來大多數(shù)學(xué)生在解閱讀理題目時(shí)使用最多的方法。事實(shí)上，這種方法具有致命的缺點(diǎn)：干擾大、費(fèi)時(shí)間。更有效和迅速的辦法是讀完題干之后，就在腦子反映出一個(gè)模糊的或者是不完整的答案，然后直接在選項(xiàng)中尋找接近的答案進(jìn)行判斷。這種能力必須在平時(shí)的訓(xùn)練和講解中逐漸養(yǎng)成和加強(qiáng)，決非什么技巧之類的東西可以替代。

掌握托福閱讀思維之三詞匯

從某種意義上來講，詞匯量的大小是TOEFL閱讀理解高分的基礎(chǔ)和關(guān)鍵。如果詞匯量沒有達(dá)到基本要求(五千以上)，也只有掌握了詞匯，所謂的閱讀技巧才能夠真正的發(fā)揮其作用。

托福閱讀技巧：托福閱讀答題四大準(zhǔn)則

第一、托福閱讀答題技巧—否定關(guān)系

no， not， never， nor， none neither 顯而易見的，fail to， refuse， remove， reject就是稍微隱蔽一點(diǎn)的，另外還有a-， ab-前綴等。

第二、托福閱讀答題技巧—對(duì)比轉(zhuǎn)折關(guān)系

while， whereas， on the other hand，but， although， despite等這次詞匯大家都應(yīng)該熟記于心。掌握這些轉(zhuǎn)折詞對(duì)考試非常有幫助。

第三、托福閱讀答題技巧—因果關(guān)系

提起因果關(guān)系，大家能夠很快的想到because， because of， for， as以及對(duì)應(yīng)的so， so that， therefore等，但因果關(guān)系除了傳統(tǒng)意義上的顯性因果表達(dá)詞外，隱性的因果同樣是不可忽略的一個(gè)重要部分。

例子： The increased presures of expanding population have led to the removal of woody plants so that many cities and tow are surrounded by large areas completely lacking in trees.

在這段話中，有l(wèi)ead to，表示了導(dǎo)致的意思，即結(jié)果;而so that 更進(jìn)一步表示了后面的結(jié)果，所以可以充分判定這段話有因果關(guān)系的邏輯。

另外還有其他的一些常見的詞匯，比如result from，reflect， present， demotrate，rely on， depend on等，這些詞匯都需要考生在被考時(shí)就需要多加留意和注意。

第四、托福閱讀答題技巧—比較關(guān)系

比較關(guān)系主要分為同級(jí)比較、比較級(jí)、變化及差異四種，主要有ahellias， -er than，change， alter，different， distinguish等。

托福閱讀技巧：托福閱讀題目需要檢查時(shí)間么

打完托福閱讀之后再檢查的效率在托福真題實(shí)戰(zhàn)中是不太科學(xué)的。這樣說的原因有這么幾個(gè)。

托福閱讀的時(shí)間是按篇來給的，也就是每篇托福閱讀文章只給你20分鐘的時(shí)間完成，提早完成了第一篇，并不會(huì)給你下一篇留有更充足的時(shí)間。所以，即使你能提前做完一篇也只能檢查剛剛做完的這一篇，而一般情況下，這樣短的時(shí)間是檢查不出來什么錯(cuò)誤的，因?yàn)槟愕乃季S還是停留在寫答案的時(shí)候。

所以在托福閱讀實(shí)戰(zhàn)中，我們應(yīng)該盡量爭(zhēng)取一次做對(duì)，閱讀時(shí)候速度可以比平時(shí)放慢一些，耐心讀取題目的中心句……另外可以在考試過程中對(duì)一些提問關(guān)鍵信息作下筆記，幫助你更迅速定位題目，因?yàn)槲恼卤旧硎菚?huì)高亮標(biāo)明一些問題中涉及的句子和要求解釋的單詞，所以有的時(shí)候連筆記都可以省掉。

另外大家要注意的就是時(shí)間來不及的情況。這就要求大家平時(shí)訓(xùn)練時(shí)候，還是堅(jiān)持一次性原則為好，盡量把答完一篇文章的時(shí)間控制在16分鐘內(nèi)，這是一個(gè)參考標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，如果達(dá)不到這個(gè)閱讀速度，面臨真題時(shí)候就會(huì)遭遇很大的難度，根本來不及檢查。

綜上所述，在托福閱讀實(shí)戰(zhàn)中，不提倡大家留檢查的時(shí)間。這樣也可以促使大家在做題的時(shí)候比以前更加集中注意力，正確率也就會(huì)有所增加。

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